Oodgeroo's All One Race

It’s 2016 and racism still exists, period. We are a nation of many different cultures and the road to racial harmony, tolerance and acceptance can be a challenging one. You only have to turn on the Television to witness the devastating acts such as the police brutality in countries such as the United States, closer to home you can switch on channel nine the TODAY show and recent ignorant remarks including Sonia Kruger’s comments wanting to ban Muslim immigration which has sparked an outburst of emotions. Both events have ignited enormous public outcry and response, a further example of the perpetuation of racism can be seen through Australia’s own political leader Pauline Hanson, who stated on ABC’S program Q&A that she suffers from islamophobia.

Writer and political activist Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s poetry represents and captures the growing reaction by a new generation of Indigenous Australians against the long-standing colonial mentality. Oodgeroo uses poetic and language techniques such as repetition and emotive language to portray these

All One Race completely conflicts Pauline’s naïve mindset, in lines 11-12 in stanza 2 as seen on the PowerPoint. Pauline is adamant that all immigrants intending to immigrate or seek asylum to Australia, particularly those from developing countries are going to cause disharmony and insight terrorism within the nation. These lines suggest that it is not the intention of a vast majority of immigrants to disrupt the peace but to feel safe and not fear their lives in a country that is supposed to be welcoming accepting of all races. Shouldn’t we be proud to share our country with others? Article 13 and 14 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights visibly states that everyone has the right to seek safety in another country if not their own. However, Pauline Hanson is strongly opposed to this concept as she states on her One Nation campaign